Opening:
"Little Miss MuffetSat on a tuffetEating her curds and whey.Along came a spiderWho sat down beside herAnd frightened Miss Muffet away.All through the room,She zipped and she zoomedAnd looked for a place to hide.A mouse came to find her;It scurried behind her.The dainty Miss bolted outside."

Brief Synopsis: Poor Miss Muffet is frightened by a spider. But as she rushes to find a place to hide, she's frightened by a mouse! Running from the mouse she is frightened by a frog! No matter where she runs, she seems to find something to be afraid of. What is the poor girl to do?

Just for fun, here's an interior page:)

copyright Iza Trapani 2013 all rights reserved

Links To Resources: Iza has created many wonderful resources for this book which I'm sure will be available soon on her website, but for now you can get them my emailing her at iza[at]izatrapani[dot]com and asking for them. (I had hoped to include them here, but blogger won't allow uploads of PDFs! I will refrain from sharing my feelings about blogger since this is a kid-friendly blog :)) The resources include a Miss Muffet Coloring Page, a Miss Muffet Hidden Animals challenge, a Miss Muffet Maze, and a page that allows you to make bookmarks. The book also includes many positional and directional words which makes it excellent for preschool! Please enjoy the book trailer HERE. And Iza writes a wonderful blog which you can visit HERE.

Why I Like This Book: If you haven't had the pleasure of reading Iza's books, I can't recommend them highly enough. Most of them are based on familiar, beloved songs - the kind all children and parents love to sing together - including Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Row Row Row Your Boat, I'm A Little Teapot, Jingle Bells, Itsy Bitsy Spider (celebrating it's 20th anniversary this year having sold over a million copies!) and many more. Iza takes the basic verses and spins them into delightful, original stories that are a joy to read (and sing :)) aloud. Her accompanying art is warm and inviting, a safe-haven for young children, full of comfort, perfect for bedtime or anytime. Miss Muffet is another brilliant addition to her list and a must-have!

Today, since we are celebrating the release of Iza's book, she has been kind enough to offer a signed copy as a giveaway!!! One lucky commenter is going to be a winner :) All you have to do to qualify is leave a comment in which you share your choice of the following things:

1. Name something that YOU are very afraid of!
2. Tell us your favorite Iza Trapani title and why you love it!
3. If you're feeling writerly and inspired, write your own verse of Miss Muffet in which she is afraid of something besides the traditional spider!

You may do one of them or all of them, whatever you like!

Please leave your comment by Sunday September 15 at 5 PM EDT. At that time, a winner will be selected randomly by random.org. The winner will be announced Monday along with a very special post! Which you'll just have to wonder about. All weekend :)

PPBF bloggers, please add your post-specific link to the list below. I can't wait to come and visit you all after our long summer hiatus!

So good to have you back with PPBF too, Vivian :) It's going to be so fun having the whole gang together again today :) My mom had an aunt who used to crush june bugs between her fingers - and you know how big and juicy-looking june bugs are! YUCK! Your name is in the virtual hat! :)

I like Ms. Trapani's "Itsy Bitsy Spider" book because it's so cute! I actually found a copy of it in the doctor's office! Great PPB Ms. Hill! I like the idea of Ms. Muffet getting scared by everything! The illustrations are beautiful!

Hurray for Iza! I love her books. Looking forward to reading this one. I am afraid of failing. If only it weren't so easy to do. :) Wow, I was afraid to hit post, so I just read below, and it appears I'm not alone! Who knew!

YaY Iza!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo woo woo!! I can't wait to get my copy so I can review it over at my place. The illustrations are just magnificent! The kidlets will feel like they're right in the book. Huzzah Iza! Fantastical review Sus!

Congratulations to Iza on her new book! Hi Susanna, I am afraid to fly, which is pretty strange since my father, father-in-law, and brother-in-law are all pilots. My father's favorite calming statement to me: "You are statistically safer in an airplane than in your bathtub."

Hi Susanna - so glad PPBF is back! and what a fun review of Miss Muffet. I love spiders - but am afraid of ticks! And while I love bumblebees, I am afraid of yellow jackets - the kind that nest in the ground and you don't see them until you rototill their nest - then ya gotta run fast (and they can fly 13 mph & I can't run that fast!)

Hi everyone! So happy PPBF is back!! Missed you all. Can't wait to read Iza's new book! My hands down favorite is I'm a Little Teapot. We have it in our church nursery and the kids love it. (Also I performed it when I was 5.... and I still know all the moves!)

I don't like picking favorite titles, Susanna, that can feel a bit like picking a favorite child! So then, what am I afraid of? Creepy crawlies don't generally bother me. I can trap and remove spiders, lizards whatever. I AM afraid of falling (from heights) and failing. So it's the two F's for me.Looking forward to reading everyone else's PPBFs!

So pleased to see a another knew book from Iza. I am afraid of snakes. Don't even like them in movies. For now I'll have to say The Bear Went Over the Mountain -- it was such a colorful, warm and inviting book. What I like most about her books are the songs that accompany the stories. It disturbs me today to hear young children singing pop/rock songs, when they should be singing age-appropriate songs. Her fun books are ones that I love to give as gifts to parents with young children. Also love How Much is that Doggie in the Window -- brings back memories of my singing the song as a child.

Oops! I forgot to write my PPBF post. This will be my reminder for next week. . .I, too, am scared to death of big spiders, and large tropical centipedes, one of which fell on me when I was a missionary in Papua New Guinea years ago!I am not familiar with Iza's books. . .thanks for the introduction. They are charming!

Yay for the return of Perfect Picture Book Friday! I LOVE Iza's books but hadn't heard of Miss Muffet yet, so I'm glad you made this selection. My favorite of Iza's books is Froggy Went A-Courtin because I loved that song as a child, and because it was one of the first books I bought for my daughter when she was a baby. So we've been reading Iza's adorable version for a long time now. :-)

Itsy Bitsy Spider has a special place in my heart too, Erik, because it's the first of Ms. Trapani's I ever read, and it came out the year my daughter was born and we read it over and over and over! :)

I know it, Joanna! I'm so happy to see everyone here today - it's like old home week :) Thanks for sharing your fear (that's a popular one today!) and your favorite Iza title. I do love the painting in the bear book - so lush and beautiful :)

Blogger doth stinketh! I agree completely! And it is messing up my website headers and making me cranky. Someday I'm going to have a website and blog that go together and look professional like everyone else's!

Amen to that, Sue! I live in a very bad tick area where we now have a new tick-borne disease to be afraid of that is fatal in 30% of cases - NOT FUN and I'm afraid of ticks too for that reason! As for yellow jackets in the ground, I once ran over a nest with the lawn mower... you should have seen me racing across the lawn discarding clothing as I tried to get them out from under my shirt after that incident :)

Hi Laura!!! So glad to see you! I was thinking of you yesterday and going to send you an email, which I still plan to do...! Now then. I expect a video of you performing I'm A Little Teapot as soon as humanly possible!!! :)

So diplomatic, Wendy :) As for your fears, I am so interested in the fact that almost everyone has posted the same 4 fears. I think we could present evidence at a psychological research party or something. I'm waiting for someone to confess to a wildly different fear than failing, falling, bugs, or rejection! :)

I know, Pat. Iza's books are all so wonderful, aren't they? To me they are the epitome of what picture books should be! Loved your choice for today though! I'm really not sure if we have anything else on the list on that topic!

SO glad PPBF is back (although I can't participate except by reading people's posts until next week, because I'm too busy promoting Erik's new book on my blog this week!!!!)

Hmmm... I'm trying to think of a fear I have that hasn't already been mentioned in the 56 comments that have gone before me. (I have lots, but they've all gone and hidden under the bed, afraid I'll mention them.) Scary books and movies REALLY scare me. I won't read 'em or watch 'em. I had to be strongly cajoled to watch the first Harry Potter movie.

I'm so glad PPBF is back too! It's so great to see everyone :) And yay for you having a fear no one's mentioned yet! :) When I was in college my roommate dared me to watch The Shining! Of course I did it because it was a dare. I will let you know if I ever recover :)

drat! I missed PPBF as I so excitedly prepared for the blog tour of Erik's new book. I actually posted it early due to it being already the date down here...oops! Loved your choice of book and unfortunately I'm very much a miss muffet. Anything moves, has more than two legs and I'm off! I'll be here next week for sure... See ya!

Oh Susanna...I am so happy to see Iza's latest book being plugged. Iza is soooooo talented. Of course, I would like a chance of being chosen to receive a "signed" copy. I'm deathly afraid of being locked in an underground parking stairwell...again. :-)

Well, I've been gone for the weekend and looks like I'm late for the party! and you folks sure know how to party!! Unfortunately I haven't read any of Ms Trapani's books! How could that have happened?! They all sound like tons of fun. I'm going to have to get my readers on the ball!! The only thing that comes to mind that I'm afraid of is ssssssnake ssskins! I've only seen an actual snake in a glass box. But I encounter those skins around here quite a lot. Eeeewww!

If you haven't read Iza's books you're in for a treat Rhythm! I think you'll especially like Oh Where Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone, How Much Is That Doggie In The Window and Rufus and Friends School Days and Rhyme TIme :) And I have to agree... I don't like sssssssnake ssssssskins :)

Oh, yay for Iza! The illustrations look gorgeous. There seems to be a lot of good new going around lately... Some for you too, Suzanne! I used to be afraid of spiders but not any more. Now with four young children, I'm more afraid of someone catching the flu or riding his bike without a helmet... those kinds of things. :)

Haha, Laura! That could be a funny version of the Muffet rhyme! This just came to me:Little Miss Muffet , sat on a tuffetEating her curds and whey.Along came a squirrel Who frightened the girlAnd it carried her tuffet away. (up the tree! :-))

I love these illustrations. Looks like a wonderful book! Since I'm not in the US, I won't enter, but I just wanted to thank you for sharing this post at Booknificent Thursday last week! Looking forward to seeing what you have to share with us this week!

I'm glad you enjoyed it, Tina! Iza is one of my favorites - it's lovely to find an author where you like every book! :) Let's see... what did I add to Booknificent Thursday this week... I think it's The Day The Crayons Quit - which is very clever and funny and I think you'll enjoy it if you get a chance to read it :)

Look what Alison, Kelly, Diane, Debbie and Donna gave me!

Look what Brooke gave me!

Look what Megan gave me!

About Me

Welcome to the wonderful world of writing for children! I am a writer, reader, animal-lover and chocolate enthusiast who lives on Blueberry Hill with my husband, kids, and dogs. Please check out my website at www.susannahill.com to learn more about my books and accompanying activities as well as lots of info for writers, teachers and parents.